How to Read Intervals and Sight Read for Piano

Reading musical intervals on the piano is a simple skill to learn because the intervals are so easy to see on the keys in front of you. Intervals are the distance between two notes played at the same time. If you have basic music reading skills, you can improve your sight reading for piano by recognizing certain intervals and finding them on the keyboard.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Find two notes that are next to one another on the staff. This is a second. One note will be on a line, the other on the space next to it. Because they are so close together, they won't be aligned vertically, so they're easy to recognize. On the keyboard, a second will have a single key in between the two notes you play, with the exception of the white keys that have no black key in between--the E-F interval or the B-C interval.
2. Locate two notes that are on the two lines or two spaces next to one another on the staff. This is a major third. Thirds are also fairly easy to recognize because there is no room on the staff between the two notes. On the keyboard, count four keys up from the bottom note of the interval to find the top note.
3. Look for two notes, one on a line and the other on a space, that are just slightly farther apart than the third. This is a perfect fourth. On the keyboard, count five keys up from the bottom note to find the top.
4. Search for two notes that are on two lines or two spaces with one line or space in between. This is a perfect fifth. A perfect fifth, like a third, is easy to spot. It looks like a basic chord (1-3-5) with the middle note removed. On the keyboard, count seven notes up from the bottom note to find the top.
5. Find two notes, one on a line and the other on a space, that are just slightly father apart than the fifth. This is a major sixth. The major sixth is harder to spot than the perfect fifth; think about it in relation to a major sixth but slightly larger. On the keyboard, count nine keys up from the bottom to find the top.
6. Look for two notes that are on two lines or two spaces with two lines or spaces in between. This is a major seventh. Count up 11 keys from the bottom note to find the top note.
7. Get used to visualizing the number of keys on the keyboard between the two notes in an interval. The intervals are often easier to recognize on sheet music, where the lines and spaces can remind you if the interval is even or odd, so practice recognizing them on the keyboard as well as on the sheet music.